A woman who was unlicensed but still performed body sculpting procedures, one of which led to the death of an actress, has been sentenced to 15 years to life behind bars.
Libby Adame, also known as the “butt lady,” performed a butt lift procedure on actress Cindyana Santangelo, The New York Times reported.
Santangelo, who had roles on “ER” and “CSI: Miami,” stopped breathing after Adame injected her with silicone in March. The actress ended up dying from an embolism because of the procedure, prosecutors said.
A California Superior Court jury found Adame guilty of second-degree murder and practicing medicine without a certificate in October.
Los Angeles County deputy district attorney Lee Cernok told Adame and the court during sentencing, “You were on notice of the dangers. Three hundred forty-one days later, she does it again.”
Last year, Adame and her daughter were both convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a 26-year-old woman in 2019. They were acquitted of second-degree murder, The New York Times reported.
Adame was sentenced to four years and four months in prison, but was released for credit for time served. Her daughter was also released.
But she was on probation at the time of Santangelo’s procedure, Judge Sam Ohta said.
Adame’s attorney said that she was a consultant for doctors who can perform the procedure in Mexico, but was not practicing in California. She claimed that she did not inject the silicone into her client and that she must have gotten it done earlier, hiding it from her family. An examination of Santangelo’s remains indicated that they had been done recently. There were also messages introduced as evidence showing a discussion between Adame and Santangelo, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Adame went to Santangelo’s home and injected her buttocks several times with silicone oil, but shortly afterwards, the actress had trouble breathing and was bleeding from the injections. The judge said that the substance traveled in her bloodstream, causing the pulmonary embolism.
Santangelo’s husband called 911 when Adame told him that his wife was having trouble breathing, the Los Angeles Times reported. Video shows him trying to get something to clean the wounds and call 911 as she lay drooling and on her side.
Adame then left and took her items with her, the Los Angeles Times reported.
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